*To share love with people who are displaced

Members of the Abuja-based Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society spent Christmas day at the Wasa IDP Camp in the Apo area of the Federal Capital Territory, where they donated food items to the people.

Al-Habibiyyah members setting the gifts

Mallam Suleiman Farouk the coordinator of this outreach programme by the Society said they chose the long Christmas holiday so that they can share some love with people who are displaced from their environment by no fault of theirs.

“We took advantage of this long holiday to spend time with people in the camp because we know that since they are not in their environment, living is tough for them. This is a challenge for most of us who have the wherewithal to provide for those who are struggling. A little love this season can make the difference for many of them”, he said.
He said the team provided food packs to 300 families explaining that each food pack contained items worth N4,000.

Members of the IDP camp set to collect the Al-Habibiyyah gifts

“Initially, we planned for 30 families but then when my father saw what we were doing, he supported us and we escalated it to 300 families. Each pack contained 5kg rice, 1 litre of vegetable oil, 500 grams of salt, 25 seasoning. This is in addition to ear-rings for ladies, yams and noodles “ he added.

The society gave out 54 tubers of yams and 31 carton of noodles.

Members of the community who thronged out expressed gratitude to the team for not discriminating along religious lines.

One of the community security vigilante men, Ibrahim Abdurahaman said the distribution was also orderly as more elderly women and pregnant women were given priority.

One of the women who gave her name simply as Rebecca said she was thrilled at the package she got.
The head of the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society’s Food Bank under which the outreach was done Alhaji Farouk Suleiman said the distribution of food items to IDP camps falls within its project of constantly supporting vulnerable people.

Children in the IDP camp set to collect the Al-Habibiyyah gifts

He said the food bank which feeds at least 1,500 people every day during the Muslim Ramadan fasting period also does not discriminate against non Muslims.

The Society through its zakat Fund disbursed earlier this year, N8million worth of items to empower the less privileged, some of them Christians.